Bahn Mi Tacos
Bahn Mi Tacos
These Bahn Mi Tacos came about after I made a recipe, Bahn Mi Rice Bowls with Spicy Pork and Sriracha Mayo, from the cookbook Healthyish by Lindsay Maitland Hunt. In her recipe she uses ground pork and keeps it simple and still so flavorful. I fell in love with the flavors and decided to make a taco out of them. I added a few more ingredients to season up the pork, decided to add crispy shallots as delicious addition and use kewpie mayo instead of regular mayonnaise which improves the taste so much. These are always a favorite and kept in the rotation especially when I decide to slow cook some pork shoulder.
What is Bahn Mi?
Bahn mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that is traditionally made on a baguette. The crispy baguette gets filled with a smear of mayonnaise or pate, a protein (pork, chicken, Vietnamese ham, tofu), pickled vegetables and an umami packed sauce.
What You'll Need
For the Pork
Large Skillet
Baking Sheet
- 1.5 lbs of Pulled Pork Shoulder or Ground Pork
- Green Onions
- Garlic
- Soy Sauce
- Fish Sauce
- Rice Vinegar
- White Sugar
For the Shallots
Sharp Knife + Cutting Board
Deep Skillet
- 4-6 Shallots
- Neutral high smoke point oil (Vegetable oil, Peanut Oil, Avocado Oil)
For the Quick Pickled Carrots & Cucumbers
Julienne Peeler or Sharpe Knife + Cutting Board
Medium Bowl
- 2 Large Carrots
- 1 English Cucumber
- Rice Vinegar
- Fish Sauce
- Neutral Oil (Avocado Oil or Vegetable Oil)
- White Sugar
For the Sriracha Mayo
Small Bowl
- Kewpie Mayo or Regular Mayonnaise seasoned with rice vinegar
- Sriracha
Make the Shallots
- Slice the Shallots – Remove the onion skin and thinly slice the shallots into rounds.
- Cold Pan – Starting in a cold pan with the heat off, cover the shallots with oil.
- Fry – Turn on the heat to medium-high. Start by stirring occasionally. Once you start to see some color do not turn away because they can burn quickly and become bitter! Begin to stir constantly to evenly brown. As soon as they turn golden remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with a paper towel. *Avoid allowing them to brown too much or they will become bitter.
- Season with Salt – Immediately season with salt while they are still hot
Make the Quick Pickled Carrots & Cucumber
Julienne the Carrots & Cucumber
Use a julienne vegetable peeler to make your life easy! 🙂 If you are using a good old knife follow the instructions below.
For the Carrot
- Peel the carrot and cut off the top and bottom.
- Cut it in half to make it more manageable.
- Thinly slice length wise, then thinly slice length wise again into match sticks
For the Cucumber
- Cut the ends off of the cucumber then cut in half to make it more management.
- Scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
- Make thin slices length wise and slice again length wise if needed.
Make the Pork
Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder
You will need 1.5 lbs of pulled pork shoulder for the recipe. I love to use a slow cooker and put it on low overnight. Make sure it is big enough to fit a bone-in pork shoulder. I usually find them sold in the store for about 7 lbs. This will provide you with about 4-6 lbs of shredded meat. Put the left overs in the freezer to use for an easy meal!
Prepare the pork in the crock pot before bed and check it in the morning! Here are some basic cooking instructions for succulent and juicy pulled pork:
- Pat the meat dry and season all over with salt and pepper.
- Put the pork shoulder in the crock pot.
- Add a sliced onion and 3-4 whole/crushed garlic cloves.
- Pour in about 2 cups of chicken broth.
- Turn the crock pot on low for about 12 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 205° and easily falls apart with a fork.
Make the Pork for the Tacos
Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
Arrange your oven rack closest to the broiler and turn the broiler setting on.
- Green Onions – Sauté the green onions in some oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Garlic – Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Pork + Seasonings – Add the pork to the pan and pour in the soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Mix to combine and re-warm the pork if needed.
- Transfer to a Baking Sheet – Spread the pork onto a baking sheet in an even layer.
- Broil – Broil the pork for a few minutes until it starts to brown slights and char in spots.
NOTE:
If Using Ground Pork:
- Add the pork and the green onions to the pan and sauté until the pork is all browned and the onions are soft.
- Add the garlic and seasonings.
- No need to broil!
Make the Sriracha Mayo
- 1/4 cup-ish Kewpie Mayo
- 2 tsp-ish Sriracha
Combine in a small bowl and stir together.
Assemble the Tacos
Tortillas – Toast the tortillas over medium high heat until they start to bubble up and brown in some spots. Don’t toast them for too long or else they will become tough.
Layer the toppings – This is how I like to build mine:
- Sriracha Mayo
- Pork
- Pickled Cucumbers & Carrots
- Cilantro and/or green onions
- Crispy Shallots
Equipment
- 1 Deep Skillet
- 1 Large Skillet
- 1 Medium Bowl
- 1 Small Bowl
Ingredients
Crispy Shallots
- 4-5 Large Shallots Sliced thinly into rounds
- 2 Cups Vegetable Oil or Avocado Oil or Peanut Oil
Pickled Carrots and Cucumbers
- 1 English Cucumber julienned
- 2 Large Carrots julienned
- 2 tsp Avocado Oil or Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tsp White Sugar
Pork
- 1.5 lbs Cooked and Shredded Pork Shoulder
- 1 bunch Green Onions sliced, tops and bottoms
- 1 Tbsp Garlic minced
- 3 tsp Soy Sauce
- 3 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp Fish Sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp White Sugar
Sriracha Mayo
- 1/4 cup Kewpie Mayonnaise
- 1-2 tsp Sriracha
To Serve the Tacos
- 12 Flour Tortillas street taco size
- 1.5 lbs Pork
- 3 cups Pickled Cucumber and Carrots
- 1.5 cups Crispy Shallots
- 1/4 cup Sriracha Mayo
- 1/4 cup Cilantro
Instructions
Make the Crispy Shallots
- Starting with a cold pan and the heat off, add the sliced shallots to a deep skillet and cover with a neutral high smoke point oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil or avocado oil.
- Turn the heat on to a medium-high heat and stir occasionally. Prepare a plate lined with paper towels. Once they start to change color begin to stir constantly for even browning. As soon as they turn golden brown remove with a slotted spoon onto the plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil. Season with salt while hot.
Make the Quick Pickled Carrots and Cucumbers
- In a medium bowl combine the julienned carrots and cucumbers along with 2 tsp avocado oil, 2 tsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp fish sauce and 1 tsp white sugar. Toss to combine. Allow to marinate while preparing the rest of the meal. Return to the bowl to toss occasionally with the pickling liquid.
Make the Pork
- Arrange an oven rack nearest to your broiler and turn the broiler on.
- Heat a large skillet to medium and add 2 tbsp avocado oil. Sauté the green and white parts of the green onions for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the pork into the skillet along with 1 1/2 tsp fish sauce, 3 tsp rice vinegar, 3 tsp soy sauce and 1 1/2 tsp sugar. Toss to coat and warm the pork through.
- Transfer the pork to a baking sheet and spread out evenly. Put the pork into the oven under the broil and allow to broil for a few minutes until it begins to brown and char in a few spots.
Make the Sriracha Mayo
- In a small bowl mix together the kewpie mayo and sriracha. Adjust spiciness to taste adding more or less mayo to sriracha.
Make the Bahn Mi Tacos
- Toast up the tortillas in a skillet with a little oil or directly over a flame, flipping once to do both sides. To keep the tortillas warm, place them in a kitchen towel. You can go a step further and place the kitchen towel inside a preheated cast iron skillet if you have one.
- Layer the tortillas with some sriracha mayo, the pork, quick pickled carrots and cucumbers, crispy shallots and torn cilantro.